Introduction

Life styles, work conditions, and family structures have changed greatly with recent developments in our lives. With these new life styles, divorce rates, however, increased. Having a healthy marriage is good both for couples’ mental and physical health, and also good for children as for growing up in a happy home protects children from mental, physical, educational and social problems (APA, n.d.). However, divorces happen. Right now, divorce rate is nearly 50 percent in the Western countries (APA, n.d.). Whether divorce should happen or should not happen is debatable and should be considered case by case, but one thing we know that children get affected in many ways, and to name a few, mental, social, or educational problems are some of them.

Family, in general, has a significant role in students’ academic success. The effect of this role can change based on the size or the type of the family a student comes from. Several studies have shown that children from divorced families show poorer educational outcomes than children from intact families (Amato, 2000; Marks, 2006). Another study by Pagani (1991) showed that children from divorced homes demonstrated lower levels of perceived self-efficacy in cognitive and behavioral domains. Therefore, children who experienced family disruption are expected to show comparatively lower levels of cognitive self-efficacy than those from intact families (Kurtz, & Derevensky, 1994).

Problems with academic achievement stemming from family divorce might not be the same for college (university) students, though when compared with K-12 students. Dynamics such as checking on homework or controlling friends change once the student reaches to the age for college attendance. Students’ psychological state and their attitudes will also not be the same as they consider themselves adults. Therefore, the matter of family divorce and their college-age children’s academic achievement should be evaluated separately. Even though there are many studies investigating the relationship between family divorce and student success for K-12 students, there is a scarcity of research for college students in this matter.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was 1) to examine academic self-efficacy and family divorce, and 2) to see whether there is a difference between students of divorce and students of intact families in terms of their academic self-efficacy, and 3) to investigate college students’ problems that possibly stem from their families’ divorce situations, and finally 4) to identify key points and areas in their academic lives, so we suggest ways to improve academic achievements of students who suffer such problems. The scarcity of research about college students makes this study significant.

Conceptual framework

The theory of reasoned action, developed by Martin Fishbein and Icek Ajzen (1977), helped us understand the dynamics of the situation better. This theory recognizes that there are situations that limit the influence of attitude on behavior. The theory also predicts behavioral intention, a compromise between stopping at attitude predictions and actually predicting behavior (Persuasion, n.d.). In its simplest form, reasoned action explains that our behavioral intentions are not the only motivators for our actions, but the reasons also shape our actions. Reasoned action, which has been used to predict a variety of health behaviors, provides a theoretical framework for understanding why people will not accept their physician’s diagnosis of depression (Van Voorhees et al., 2005). Students’ intention not to embrace their parental problems might also prevent any possible clinical assistance, so the theory of reasoned action will guide us during the data analysis.

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